FAA UAS test site to perform drone delivery work

A U.S. Federal Aviation Administration unmanned aircraft system test site will soon be helping a Canadian-based drone company test the functionality and ability of a drone delivery system.

Drone Delivery Canada will begin testing its system at the New York Griffiss International Airport UAS Test site early this year. DDC has developed its own delivery drone and a flight management system. In June last year, the company performed beyond visual line of sight flights in rural Alberta, Canada.

Tony Di Benedetto, CEO for DDC, said the company has experienced strong interest from multiple commercial customers in the U.S.

DDC has already performed multiple tests in Canada. After testing for most of 2018, DDC will also perform BVLOS work at the Transport Canada approved UAS Centre of Excellence located in Alma, Quebec.

Testing in New York will put the company’s proprietary FLYTE management software to work on semi-autonomous fights in BVLOS scenarios.

DDC’s flight management system includes operational guidance, route planning, geofencing alerts, telemetry, maintenance, logs and full preventative maintenance scheduling and tracking. Initially, the group is targeting remote Canada for deliveries via drone. The drones can bring basic food, medicine or general commodities from one location to another. A drone will be stationed at a business, or depot, and then loaded with a package before a destination is entered into the system. DDC is focused on its depot to depot approach before it begins delivering from depot to consumer. According to the company, it has also partnered with numerous satellite providers to ensure every drone will maintain communication during autonomous flights performed BVLOS. The company’s mission control center is in Toronto.